Category Archives: Food Health

Mitchell Duke, who also played for the Australian National Football (Soccer) Team, is now in his 4th year at Shimizu S-Pulse Football Club in Shizuoka City, a member of the J1 League with a long tradition and history.
He gracefully agreed to an interview to answer questions and express his views on culinary diet and especially vegetables in a region which boasts the largest official number of varieties in all Japan.
Question: Dear Mitchell, thank you so much for sparing your time. First of all, what was your daily diet back in Australia before moving to Shizuoka City?
Mitchell Duke: Quite heavy, actually! As a typical Ozzie (Australian) it started right away with enormous breakfasts with eggs, meat, avocadoes, bread and what else. In comparison, Japanese breakfasts would amount to calories ingested in our comparatively lighter dinners. Lunches and dinners still included large amounts of carbohydrates, what with all the steaks and pasta!

Q: What has changed since you came to Japan?
MD: Everything! I immediately began in earnest to research more into nutrition to the point of taking a TFE course in nutrition. First of all, I cut out the red meat to shift to a pescarian (fish, especially white-fleshed fish) diet. I also came to bypass most dairies although I still eat eggs. And of course, I came to pay more attention to all vegetables of all kinds.

Q: Do you find it easy to maintain your new diet in Shizuoka (and Japan for that matter!)?
MD: Yes, indeed! There are enough restaurants (I do have to eat out, what with trips and inevitable socializing) with enough variety to allow me to choose food according to my priorities without much of a fuss. Truth to tell, my teammates often indulge in plenty of meat, especially at their favorite yakiniku restaurants. In such cases I keep to grilled vegetables and dig a lot into the kimuchi! LOL. One thing is sure: I keep my eyes and ears open for new venues and possibilities!

Q: Can you obtain your requirements when eating at the club facilities?
MD: no problem there! Meals are served on a buffet style basis which allows me plenty of options including heaps of vegetables and salads! The food there is not only plentiful, but definitely above average cafeteria!

Q: Where do you usually make your daily food shopping?
MD: So far I have used the local Max Value supermarket and other local shops, but I must admit that I probably need to investigate a bit further! The more options, the better! If you have any suggestions, I shall be the happier for it!

Q: Do you consider Shizuoka an easy place to follow your diet compared to the rest of Japan?
MD: Yes, I may say that Shizuoka is arguably the best place when it comes to satisfy my personal dietary requirements, especially when you consider that it is an endless discovery! When you choose to concentrate on vegetables, the variety offered here is nigh unbeatable! The neutral weather plays an important role when it comes to a yearlong search for the best vegetables!

Q: What are the main benefits from your present diet?
MD: First of all, weight control has become so much easier to attain. And I actually enjoy the whole experience. I haven’t been sick for a long time, and most importantly I do recover faster from fatigue or injuries inherent to my occupation! The few times I do have to ingest meat I always end up feeling sluggish the next day! A kind of food hangover!

Many people only have time to visit restaurants at lunch and it is certainly not easy to find a restaurant with a better lunch with all those cheap diners around!
Here is the second installment of a series of reports on recommended lunch restaurants in Shizuoka Prefecture which will be classified as follows:
-French
-Italian
-Western (American, European, et al)
-Japanese
-Asian
-Vegan & Vegetarian
-Healthy
-For families
-Ethnic

Service: Very friendly and smiling, Great welcomeFacilities and Equipment: Great cleanliness overall. Superb WashroomPrices: Very reasonableStrong points: healthy and generous fusion gastronomy making a great use of local ingredients.Entirely non-smoking!

Service: Excellent and very friendlyFacilities: Great and very large washroom, great cleanliness overallPrices: Reasonable to slightly expensive.Strong points: Sicilian Cuisine. Top-class Italian wines and great collection of Grappa.
Non-smoking at tables. Private room can be made non-smoking!

Service: Very friendly and attentiveEquipment: Great general cleanlinessPrices: ReasonableStrong points: Great appetizers. Home-made pasta!. Great use of local products from the land and the sea. Southern Italy and Sardinia gastronomy.

Service: Very friendly, smiling and attentiveEquipment & Facilities: Great overall cleanliness. Superb washroom in same building separated from the cafe.Prices: Reasonable for such big servings!Strong points: Very generous cafe/bistro multi-genred gastronomy. Great variety. Great products. Entirely non-smoking in very modern atmosphere. Great books!

TAGATA ZAIRAI SOBA (make sure you understand the address as Tagata is a very common name for restaurants in Japan!)
Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Tokiwa Cho, 3-3-4 (left of Tokai Bldg across the street)
Tel.: 054-251-0707
Opening hours: 11:30~14:00, 17:30~21:00
Closed on Sundays

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SOBA SAKE KAWAKATSU/strong>

Service: FriendlyEquipment: traditional. Clean. Beautiful toiletsPrices: AppropriateStrong points: Very fresh ingredients. Most ingredients not only local but sef-grown or self-raised! Local sake and shochu!Entirely non-smoking!

Service: Friendly, attentive and smilingEquipment & Facilities: Great cleanliness overall. Beautiful and modern gender-separated washroomsPrices: Reasonable (wayuu is not cheap anywhere!)Strong points: Almost completely local ingredients. High class beef and pork. Great local sake and shochu list! Non-smoking at lunch time!

Service: Very friendly, polite and smilingFacilities & Equipment: Very clean overall. Spacious washroomPrices: ReasonableStrong points: A great blend of Indian and Nepalese cuisines. More than sufficient drinks list. Vegetarian set or single dishes available. Very generous portions!

Service: Excellent and very friendly.Facilities: Great cleanliness overall. Superb washroom (mouthwash and toothpicks provided!)!Prices: Reasonable to slightly expensive, very good value.Strong points: Interesting wine list. Great use of local products, especially organic vegetables and Shizuoka-bred meat and caught fish.

Service: Professional, welcoming, very attentive and smiling. Great explanations.Facilities & Equipment: Extremely clean. Superb separate washrooms.Prices: Reasonable considering the extravagant quality.Strong points: Mainly local products including wild vegetables and meat. Vegetables mainly organic and grown by the staff. Menu changing for the most part every two weeks.

Service: Very friendly. Slow foodFacilities: Very clean all over. Enormous beautiful washroomPrices: ReasonableStrong points: Classical French/Italian Cuisine of very good value. Good list of wines and Japanese sake. Great lunches!
Non smoking at lunch!

Service: A bit shy but friendlyEquipment: Great general cleanliness. Beautiful washroomPrices: ReasonableStrong points: Interesting combination of French and Japanese bistro-style cuisine. Traditional tarts and cakes.Entirely non-smoking!

When it comes to reasonable, healthy food in a clean environment Cenova Department Store in Aoi Ku, Shizuoka Citycan be a blessing even if it is crowded at times.
Dragon recommended me CHAO the other day and I paid it my first visit at lunch today.
The place was actually busy but I was ushered in with a smile and attention.
When I placed my order the waitress went as far as to inquire if I had ordered too much!
So, what did I order?

A set of five dimdung/点心!

Great colors!
I checked after my meal, they do not use any monosodium glutamate (MSG) or artificial coloring or seasoning!

having to eat out for lunch also means a constant search for healthy food, otherwise….
Shichiken Cho, Aoi Ku, Shizuoka City, is an area where you can find a few trendy cafes/bars/restaurants serving healthy and tasty food!
The latest is ICN cafe!

It is part of a concept combining show room, shop and cafe/bar which can also be booked entirely for private vents!

You will find some interesting items and collectibles!

Very modern and slightly zany kitchen!

You can patronize it all day a cafe or bar as well!

Very reasonable and plenty of variety for lunch!

Although the pasta, pizza and locomoco look delicious, I would recommend the Vegetable Sommelier Lunch for your first visit!

This particular lunch is designed with the help of a top Shizuoka vegetable Sommelier. Ms. Tomoe Amano!

And they also provide a full description of the dishes down to vitamins and all that!

My lunch!

Now, what did we have there?

Chinese cabbage, carrot and chicken soup!

Very tasty white rice with a few grains of black rice!

Chinese cabbage and rape flowers salad rolls!

Very original kabocha marinated with Shiozuoka Oranges and rosemary!

Chinese cabbage, rice flour and soy milk gratin!

And lemon tea to wash it all down!

Expect a few more articles as I have to not only sample their pizza, pasta and locomoco, but also Baird beer (Numazu City) among the 31 beers they have on the menu!

The ist Shizuoka Seeds Exhange Meet was held on Sunday February 9th by farmers from all over the Prefecture under the leadership of a young farmer named Fumitaka Yamaguchi.
Attendants included not only farmers, but also guests interested in farming in general, in seeds exchange and willing to get a better understanding of farming.

Although the meeting started at 11:30, the meeting room at the Shizuoka Waork Insurance Building was already half full by 11:00!

Plenty of seeds and products were exhibited for a general view before the actual exchange during the second part of the meeting!

And more!

Specialized books were also on sale as well as plenty of information brochures for free!

Organic carrots!

Egg plants and okra grown for seeds!

More seeds!

A very smooth organization!

Many varieties of organic rice!

Organic sugar cane cultivated in Shizuoka City!
Did you know that these pieces of sugar cane are used as “seeds”?

Fumitaka Yamaguchi welcoming all and explaining the schedule of the Meet!

First we were shown a long film on the dangers of Gene Modified grains, seeds , vegetables, fruit and plants in general in the States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia and Africa!
A real eye-opener. Frightening, actually!

The second part consisted of a very good discussion with Chef Kenya Yoshimura, Farmer Mitsuharau Ishigami and organic food trader Mika Itoh.
The main topics were about the work of producing one’s own seeds, the protection of native plants, the safety and traceability of food and the future of farming!
I’m really looking forward to the next Meet as there is a real need for such exchange and so many issues to discuss!

One overriding reason why I patronize Solio Italian Restaurant in Shizuoka City is that Chef Takehiko Katoh/加藤武彦さん uses exclusively seasonal ingredients especially when it comes to vegetables, especially local ones or from his own garden!

Chef Takehiko Katoh/加藤武彦さん uses only olive oil, salt and paper.
Cooking the vegetables in a skillet without a lid over a fire and last inside the oven helps maintain the vegetables shape, color and consistency.
A simple and sublime way to enjoy vegetables!
Incidentally it becomes a vegan dish as well!